The Cool Solution

Fresno's Housing Authority keeps energy expenditures low and economic savings high with its new evaporative coolers.

Steve Marta, Maintenance Manager for the Fresno Housing Authority,wanted to change people’s opinions about evaporative coolers. He felt that there was an unreasonable stigma attached to the newer energy-efficient version of these cooling units, and that people believed these units were an ineffective way to cool their homes. He also knew—given the number of complaints that his office received on hot summer days—that the conventional swamp coolers currently used on his residents’homes weren’t doing the job. As a result, Marta spearheaded a project to choose new evaporative coolers as the Fresno Housing Authority’s replacement product. And, thanks to the rebate program offered by Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), the Housing Authority was able to choose a top-of-the-line cooler while receiving around $100,000 worth of rebates. The Fresno Housing Authority oversees 1,100 units of public housing, most of which are duplexes and single family units around 800-1,200 ft2 total in size. The Housing Authority chose new efficient evaporative cooling as its replacement product for several reasons. The coolers are a considerable energy cost saving for ...